Link swinging hopper discharge gate actuating mechanism

ABSTRACT

A swinging hopper discharge gate suspended by a pair of rotating link members and operatively connected with a crank and link actuating arrangement. The crank and link device includes an over center locking feature and is operatively connected to a slide bolt which locks the discharge gate in a closed position during final rotation of the operating crank. In opening the discharge gate, initial movement of the crank and link operating arms initially disengages the lock bolt and is followed by the swinging opening movement of the discharge gate.

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ates 1 1 1111 3,807,316 Miller Apr. 30, 1974 [54] LINK SWINGING HOPPERDISC GE 1,179,609 4/1916 Chambers 105/250 GATE ACTUATING IWECHANHSM1,370,659 3/1921 Malcher 105/287 1,423,120 7/1922 Kruger 1. 105/308 EInventor: y Mlller, l'llghland, 1,616,434 2 1927 Anderson... 105/250Assigneez Pullman Incorporated, g In. 3,51 1,188 5/1970 Dan 105/280Filed: y 24, 1972 Primary Examiner-Robert G. Sheridan 21 Appl No: 274711 Assistant ExaminerHoward Beltran Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hilmond O.Vogel [52] US. Cl 105/253, 105/282 R, 105/284, 1

105/290, 105/299, 105/304, 105/310 ABSCT 51 11 1. c1 B6101 7/18, B6ld7/20, B61d 7/26 A Swinging hopper discharge gate Suspended by a pair[58] Flew 0f $433M! 105/240, 250, 253, 280, of rotating link members andoperatively connected 105/2841 285, 287, 308 308 E, 282 with a crank andlink actuating arrangement. The 299, 304 crank and link device includesan over center locking feature and is operatively connected to a slidebolt [56] References Cited which locks the discharge gate in a closedposition UNITED STATES PATENTS during final rotation of the operatingcrank. ln open- 571,483 11/1896 Johnson 105/284 g the discharge gate,initial movement of the Crank 105/310 X and link operating armsinitially disengages the lock 105/310 X bolt and is followed by theswinging opening move- 3,626,865 12/1971 Aquino et a1. 105/240 ment ofthe discharge gate,

571,480 11/1896 Johnson 105/284 X 1,083,563 1/1914 Sage 105/308 C 3Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 644,890 3/1900 Bellows... 1,024,893 4/1912Handy LINK SGING HOPPER DISC i'- GE GATE ACTUATING MEC w BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION SUMMARY This invention pertains to a locking device usedto maintain a swinging hopper discharge gate in the closed position. Inoperation the gate utilizes a sliding bolt which engages the gatesupport structure and is operatively connected to the gate operatingmechanism through a lost motion connection which permits unlocking ofthe gate during initial movement of the door opening mechanism.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide hopperdischarge gate having an automatic unlocking lock bolt member which iseasily and rapidly disengaged from the locked position during initialoperation of the discharge gate actuating mechanism.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a swinginghopper discharge gate supported on a pair of link members andoperatively connected with an over center crank and link operatingmechanism which is operatively connected to the locking slide bolt by alink member which provides a lost motion connection between the crankand link operating mechanism and the slide gate bolt.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a hopperdischarge gate having a locking bolt arrangement operatively connectedto the door operating linkage mechanism through a lost motion connectionand having the lost motion connection including a biasing spring whichpermits complete closing of the hopper discharge opening prior to theengagement of the locking bolt with the hopper gate support structure.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide anunlocking capstan unit adjacent the crank and link operating mechanismand including a cam member operatively adjacent said operating mechanismand including a locking hook portion engageable with the crank member toprevent undesirable, inadvertent gate actuation or operating of the gateopening mechanism.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent fromreference to the following description, attached drawings and appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view ofthe discharge portion of a hopper and including the hopper gate andlocking unit of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along line 22 of FIG. I with portions removed;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken generally along line 6-6 of FIG. 3, butshowing the discharge gate in the fully open position; and

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view, with portions removed, of thedischarge gate operating linkage and lock bolt of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED ENIBODIMENT Referring now to the drawingsand particularly to FIG. I, a hopper I0 is illustrated having usualdischarge portion I2 which includes the usual slope sheets 14 inclinedto define the discharge portion 12. A gate 16 is positioned at theopening defined at the bottom terminal ends of the slope sheets 14 andis utilized in the usual manner to open and close the discharge portionof the hopper 10. The gate 16 includes the usual horizontally extendingsheet portion 17 which is fastened and reinforced by the angle elements18. The door or gate 16 is suspended from an associated slope sheet 14at the pivot points 2%), 21 which are the usual pin type pivotalconnections fixedly supported on the angle mounting member 22 which iswelded to the slope sheet 14. Door support links 23 and 24 are pivotallyattached to the associated pivot points 20, 21 respectively and have attheir opposite ends second pivotal connections 25, 26 which connect thelinks to the gate 16. Gusset reinforcing plates 25a are positioned atthe link-to-door pivot points to reinforce the connection. Thus it isnoticed that the discharge gate 16 is a rigid heavy duty reinforcedmember which is pivotally and rotatably supported for opening andclosing of the discharge portion ll2 of the hopper 10.

The operating linkage which actuates the discharge gate 16 is referredto as a crank and link type of mechanism and includes a crank member 28and an associated link 30. The crank 28 and the link 30 are pivotallyconnected at 31. Crank 28 is non-rotatably fastened to an associatedoperating shaft 31a having a slotted head portion 31b for rotation bysuitable power means. An unlocking capstan 32, as best illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 3, is fixedly attached to the rotatable shaft 33 andpositioned adjacent the crank member 28. The operating and unlockingcapstan 32 and its associated shaft 33 have a locking and operatingmember 330 fixedly attached thereto and positioned adjacent the crankmember 28. The unlocking and operating member 3130 includes a cam orcrank engaging portion 34 and a hook locking portion 35 which isassociated with the locking pin 36 which is part of the crank member 28(see FIG. 4).

A lost motion connecting link 37 is attached to the link 30 by a pintype connection designated by the numeral 39. Laterally spaced from thelink 37 are a pair of lock actuating lost motion links 38 which arefixedly attached to shaft 38a as shown in FIG. 3. Extending from thelinks 37 is a locking drive link 40 which extends generally under thegate 16. As noticed in FIG. 7, a torsional biasing spring 42 ispositioned about the shaft 38a and provides a rotational biasing forceto the link member 38. The locking link 40 is pivotally con- THEOPERATION The operative features of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the initial opening and followed by adescription of the closing movement of the gate 16. Referring to FIG. 1which discloses the gate in the fully closed and locked position, it isnoticed that the slide bolt 44 is extended into the locking flangeopening 46 as shown in FIG. 7. Opening of the gate commences withengagement of the capstan 32 by a suitable operating wrench resulting ina rotation of the shaft 33 and engagement of the cam member 34 with thecrank member 28 which is shown in FIG. 7. Initial rotation of the crank28 is produced by the rotating force of the cam member 34 on crank 28.As the crank 28 is rotated into an over-center position the self lockingfeature of the crank and link mechanism will be eliminated and theweight of the lading within the hopper will force the door 16 into theopen position. During the initial rotation of the crank member 28 pastthe over-center position the link 30 will be moved upwardly andgenerally to the right as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 and there will bean associated rotation of the connecting links 38. Because the lockinglink member 40 is pivotally connected to the associated rotatingconnecting link 38 there will be produced a slider crank effect causinga reciprocating lateral movement of the locking bolt 44 into and fromthe locking flange 46. Once the locking bolt clears the flange 46 theweight of lading within the hopper will force the discharge gate 16 intoan open position such as is illustrated in FIG. 6.

To close the discharge gate 16 from the open position which isillustrated in FIG. 6, a clockwise rotational force is applied to thecapstan 31b which in turn rotates the associated shaft 31a which isfixedly attached to the crank member 28, producing a likewise clockwiserotation of the crank 28. Rotation of crank 28 results in a pushing orcompressive force being transferred through the link member 30 which isapplied to the connecting link 37 which is pivotally attached to thelink 30 at pivot 39. Closing forces initially applied to the connectinglinks 38 do not produce a rotation of link 38 because of the resistingforce applied by the torsional biasing spring 42. This spring is sodesigned as to prevent rotation of the connecting link 38 until the gate16 is positioned in the fully closed position at which time the gate isno longer rotating and the closing forces will increase and overcome theresisting efi'ect of the torsion spring 42 thereby permitting theconnecting links 38 to rotate and providing a sliding transversemovement of the slide bolt 44 into the locking flange cutout 46. Thus itis noticed that by designing the spring 42 to prevent rotation of theassociated link 30 and thereby prevent sliding movement of the slidebolt 44 until the gate 16 is flush with the discharge opening, the slidebolt is thereby maintained in an out-of-the-way position under the gatesheet 17 and will not interfere with complete closing of the gate 16.Once the gate 16 is in the fully closed position additional closingforces are applied which will .overcome the resisting spring force andresult in insertion of the slide bolt 44 into the locking flange 46 asthe crank and link members move into the over-center self lockedposition. When this occurs the locking and operating member 33a may berotated to engage the locking pin 36 on the crank 28 by the hook lockportion 35.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate theinvention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar asthe appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who havethe disclosure before them will be able to make modifications andvariations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

.1. A discharge arrangement for use on a railway hopper car having slopesheets for directing lading towards a hopper discharge opening having alocking flange portion and the improvement comprising:

a gate member suspended by spaced pairs of support link members and saidsupport link members pivotally connected to an associated slope sheetand to the gate;

a door actuating mechanism comprising a crank member rotatably mountedon said hopper car and comprising a link member pivotally attached tosaid crank member;

a door locking means mounted on said discharge gate and including alocking link and a horizontally movable slide bolt being movable to andfrom locking engagement with said locking flange portion of thedischarge opening;

lost motion means being pivotally attached to said gate member andconnecting the locking link and said link member of the door actuatingmechanism to thereby provide for unlocking movement of the door lockingmember during initial opening rotation of the door actuating mechanism;

said lost motion means comprising a lost motion link pivotally attachedto said gate member and a biasing means operatively and restraininglyengaging the door locking means to thereby provide for unlockingmovement of the slide bolt prior to gate opening and to provide for gateclosing prior to locking sliding movement of the slide bolt.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and:

a locking and operating member rotatably positioned adjacent said crankmember of the door operating mechanism and having a locking hook portionto lock the crank member and also having a crank engaging cam portionfor providing initial gate unlocking rotation -to the crank member.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and:

a transversely disposed crank operating shaft extending the width ofsaid hopper car and and being operatively connected with said rotatablecrank member for providing opening and closing rotational movement tosaid discharge gate.

l l =l

1. A discharge arrangement for use on a railway hopper car having slopesheets for directing lading towards a hopper discharge opening having alocking flange porTion and the improvement comprising: a gate membersuspended by spaced pairs of support link members and said support linkmembers pivotally connected to an associated slope sheet and to thegate; a door actuating mechanism comprising a crank member rotatablymounted on said hopper car and comprising a link member pivotallyattached to said crank member; a door locking means mounted on saiddischarge gate and including a locking link and a horizontally movableslide bolt being movable to and from locking engagement with saidlocking flange portion of the discharge opening; lost motion means beingpivotally attached to said gate member and connecting the locking linkand said link member of the door actuating mechanism to thereby providefor unlocking movement of the door locking member during initial openingrotation of the door actuating mechanism; said lost motion meanscomprising a lost motion link pivotally attached to said gate member anda biasing means operatively and restrainingly engaging the door lockingmeans to thereby provide for unlocking movement of the slide bolt priorto gate opening and to provide for gate closing prior to locking slidingmovement of the slide bolt.
 2. The invention according to claim 1, and:a locking and operating member rotatably positioned adjacent said crankmember of the door operating mechanism and having a locking hook portionto lock the crank member and also having a crank engaging cam portionfor providing initial gate unlocking rotation to the crank member. 3.The invention according to claim 1, and: a transversely disposed crankoperating shaft extending the width of said hopper car and and beingoperatively connected with said rotatable crank member for providingopening and closing rotational movement to said discharge gate.